No Relevance Of SPL Status To Odisha: PANAGARIYA

Sun, 10 Jan 2016 15:06:30 IST

Bhubaneswar: Jan 10; NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya on Saturday said there is no relevance of Special Category State (SCS) status for Odisha now.

After meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the latter's residence Naveen Niwas, Panagariya told reporters that as per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, the State Government is getting huge funds from the Centre. Hence, there is no relevance of SCS status to Odisha. However, Patnaik had drawn Panagariya's attention to the State's longstanding demand of SCS demand during the meeting.

"All the criteria for Special Category State are fulfilled by Odisha except an international boundary. A special dispensation should be made in case of Odisha in this regard," Patnaik told Panagariya.

The Chief Minister also stressed the need of mechanisms and operational guidelines to jointly pursue the national and sub-national development agendas. Patnaik said the State would bear a net loss in Central fund flow to the tune of Rs 1,776.31 crore during the 2015-16 fiscal.

Patnaik also sought a single-window system for communication of annual allocation and sharing pattern of CSS to the State sufficiently in advance, preferably by mid-December of the preceding financial year, in order to enable the State Government to go i for a realistic Budget.